The Symbol Coat Rack is half art installation and half functional coat rack.  According to the DESU Design website, …

During the coatless summer months the Symbol hangs as a purely aesthetic piece, as the hooks lay flat and belie their function. When needed, the hooks pull smoothly out to help you organize your stuff. Available in monochrome aluminum, or in white with vibrant anodized colors. Monochrome is anodized aluminum finish for both the housing and the hooks. Color has white housing and vibrant color anodized hooks.

Read more »

Okay, I have done several hat histories recently and here is a short round-up of them …

• The Top Hat
• Cowboy Hats
• Pith Helmets
• The Flat Cap
• The Bowler (aka, The Derby)
• The Panama Hat

At least for the time, I am not going to write any more of these posts … there are a few more hats that I could do, but for the time being, I am not going to write any more posts like these.

Hope you enjoy them!

Okay, we are not talking any old straw hat here, we are talking about traditional panama hats made from toquilla straw.  With a history dating back to at least 4000 BC (and the modern form taking form after the appearance of Spanish conquistadors in Ecuador), these hat have a long and glorious history.  The prehispanic cultures of Ecuador used the toquilla to make headwear for thousands of years before Spanish explorers made contact and got local artisans to produce hats in traditional European styles for them to wear while in the tropics.

In 1835, an entreupenuer named Manuel Alfaro settled in Montecristi and opened his hat weaving business.  Shortly after, he started to export to Panama before setting up shops there.  After this, these hats became known as Panama Hats because Panama was the most important commercial centre for the trade of the hats (and many other items), despite most of them being made in Ecuador. Read more »

The Original Bowler Hat

As mentioned, in 1850, Lock & Co designed the Bowler Hat, which they call The Coke because it was made for William Coke, a progressive farmer from Holkham in Norfolk.  This is a real bowler hat!

Lock & Co was first founded before 1676 and has been called the “best hatters in the world”.  Originally established to serve the court of St. James, today they provide hats to customers around the world.  According to their website, they have survived because:

Its’ survival is the consequence of progressive conservatism, of confidence in quality and a demonstration of the effectiveness of persistent personality and individuality in an increasingly mass-minded world.

Their hats are not cheap … the Coke costs £259.00 and the Extra Firm Coke for riding costs £289.00 … but I bet that I would look great in one of them!  Jill thinks that I look good in a bowler and this would be a great one to have …

This chart is from an interesting little booklet printed for ‘Society Brand Clothes’ in 1931 that was evidently distributed at men’s clothing stores as a kinda style guide.  Here is a slightly updated version of the chart that was featured in the book.  I hope that someone finds it useful …

Color Chart:

Key: Hm = Harmonizing, Pk = Pink, Gr = Green, Lt = Light, Dk = Dark, Wht = White, Br = Brown, SS = Solid or Stripe, SSP = Solid, Stripe, or Pattern

~~ Suit — | — Shirt — | — Tie — | — Shoes & Socks — | — Hat ~~

Dk Blue | Wht, Gr, Pk, Tan, or Lt Blue | Hm SSP | Blk or Dk Br | Grey, Gr, Tan, or  Straw

Blue Grey | Gr, Grey, or Wht | Hm SSP | Blk or Dk Br | Grey, Blue Grey, or Straw

Lt Grey | Pale Blue, Pk, Yellow, or Wht | Hm SS | Blk w/ Hm Socks | Grey, Gr, or Straw

Dk Tan | Gr, Off-Wht, or Wht | Hm SS | Tan w/ Hm Socks | Tan, Br, or Straw

Blue Gr | Gr, Tan, Grey, or Wht | Hm SS | Blk or Dk Br | Grey, Br, Tan, or Straw

Dk Gr | Gr, Tan, Grey, or Wht | Hm SS | Blk or Dk Br | Gr, Grey, Br, Tan, or Straw

Read more »

The Bowlers (and a Top Hat) of A Clockwork Orange

In A Clockwork Orange, a bowler was the hat of choice for the main character, Alex de Large and brought the bowler back to the attention of 1970s Glam Rock.  Today, bowlers, like top hats, are rarely seen but that does not mean that they should be forgotten!

The bowler was originally made for Sir William Coke in 1850 by the Bowler family who worked for the hatmakers, James Lock and Co. of 6 St James’s Street, London.  Their original purpose was to provide protection to Coke’s game wardens while riding their horses on patrol.  It is claimed that when he was presented with the new hat, he threw it on the floor and stood on it before slamming it down on his head to leave.  Thus, this hat was originally designed and worn as protective gear – a trait that earned it favors by various groups beyond game wardens.  Additionally, unlike many previous styles of hats, the bowler became popular across a wide range of socio-economic classes.  For a variety of reasons, they became part of the standard uniform of many tradesmen … well beyond the classic image of a bowler-wearing and umbrella-toting banker/business man! Read more »

Me in one of my flat caps at the Tower of London

Whether you call them flat caps or cloth cap or driving cap or golf cap or newsboy/newsy cap or …, this style of hat is one of my favorites.  Made famous during the 19th century by working men throughout the British Isles, today they are worn by a wide range of characters – OAPs in their allotments, middle-agers on the golf course, and hip-hop artists on the street.  Additionally, to cover the heads of that variety of people, flat caps come in a huge array of materials!

I have expressed my like of traditional British fabrics, such as tartans and tweeds, but they are also available in leather, cordoroy, mesh, and various natural fibers – cotton, wool, and linen.  This means that there is a flat cap for virtually everybody!

And, they are a very smart alternative to the standard baseball cap that many people wear …

Bob Hope tipping his Pith Helmet

Pith helmets traditionally denote white Europeans chopping and slashing their way through the tropics and as a sign of imperial power starting in the late 19th century.  Using a technology developed by the French towards the end of the 19th century in Vietnam (then known as French Indochina), real pith helmets are made from the white pith of an Indian swamp plant, the sola.  Through a process of lamination, layers of the pith are glued together to make a lightweight, durable, and very strong hat.

Furthermore, because of its absorbant nature, it can be fully immersed in water to keep the wearer cool as it dries.  Since pith is also very strong, the helmets do not lose their shape or solidity as they dry, still providing very good protection.

The first helmets appeared as early as the 1840s and the traditional form developed during the 1870s.  It was used around the world and even made an appearance in the US Southwest during the 1880s.  True pith helmets were used extensively during World War One in tropical areas but by the Second World War, while still a popular style, many of the helmets were no longer made of traditional pith materials.  These sun helmets (many made of plastic or straw) are still in use today throughout the world by a range of people, including USPS postal workers during the summer and the Thai Royal Guards.

For the real article, you can get pith helmets online.

Title Page

A Century of Hats and the Hats of the Century (click here for full-text PDF) by Edward Mott Woolley is a funny little volume published in 1923 by The Mallory Hat Company of Danbury, Connecticut.  With only 40-some pages of text, it is an interesting company history of Mallory hats from its foundation by Ezra Mallory in 1823 to its modern governance and factory methods.  In addition to the basic story, the text is illustrated with some wonderful engravings. Read more »

According to milliner John Kasriel -

“It’s sun protection for some older guys too, but mostly it’s, ‘I want to attract the women. I want to look fantastic. I’ve got confidence. I want to wear a hat’.”

And buyer Craig Cochrane at 98-year-old Melbourne retail institution City Hatters -

Cochrane says the thrill for first-time buyers is in a hat’s instant, transformative power: “I love it – these young guys are coming in with a jacket they’ve bought and saying, ‘I need a hat to match this’, and they’re not just buying a $35 throwaway either; even $195 isn’t out of the question.”

So, are hats truly a look at me accessory?

Well, for me, I would have to admit, yes!  I wear them because they add that little bit extra to my outfit (and, as I have found, hats are one of the few accessories that men can wear and that will elicit comments from others).  Moving beyond my standard baseball cap, there is a whole range of hats that are appropriate for all types of outfits and situations.  Straw cowboys hats and trilbies for the summer.  Wool flat caps for the winter or a cloth flat cap for anytime to dress up jeans and a t-shirt.  Even, a black fedora to wear with a suit. Read more »